The Vacheron Constantincommunity

Vacheron Constantin celebrates the tercentenary of the birth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
august 2012

Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Already a partner of the bicentenary, Vacheron Constantin commemorates the best-known philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, who would have been 300 years old this year. The son and grandson of Genevan watchmakers, born in Geneva at the dawn of the cultural, social and political effervescence that was to definitively overturn the society of his time, Jean-Jacques Rousseau embodies a mode of thought that is eminently modern despite its remote historical origins. Through the whirlwind of cultural and human emancipation it stirred, this philosophy resolutely contributed to shaping the face of Fine Watchmaking.

The Manufacture Vacheron Constantin has chosen to support four important cultural projects and events linked to the city’s “Rousseau pour Tous” (Rousseau for All) anniversary celebrations. An opera, JJR (Citoyen de Genève), presented by the Grand Théâtre de Genève from September 11th to 24th, 2012. The great names who have contributed to this world-level creative event – the composer Philippe Fénelon, the librettist Ian Burton and the stage director Robert Carsen – make this opera one of the major events of the celebrations of the tercentenary of the philosopher’s birth. Vacheron Constantin has also supported two movie projects: “Le Nez dans le Ruisseau”, a feature film written and directed by Christophe Chevalier and starring Sami Frey and Anne Richard, and “La Faute à Rousseau”, a collection of 60 short films inspired by Rousseau’s work and made by over fifty independent filmmakers from Switzerland and around the world. Moreover, the Manufacture was also closely involved in the cycles of lectures and encounters dedicated to Rousseau in both New York and Berlin.

From opera to cinema through intellectual debate, Vacheron Constantin first and foremost views its commitment to supporting those involved in the Rousseau pour Tous commemoration as a means of celebrating the alchemy of art and time. A strong commitment that crystallizes the values that the House has been ardently defending for over 250 years.